Miss California United States | Directors

Tara Rice is the Founder of Miss West Coast Productions Inc., established in 2013. Since 2013, Rice has produced over 12 Pageants including preliminaries to Miss California USA and the Miss California Teen USA Pageant. In 2017, Rice became the State Director of the Miss California United States Pageant which leads to the prestigious Miss United States Pageant. As a Director and Pageant Coach she has helped a handful of Miss West Coast and South Bay Titleholders capture the crown of State and National Titles.

Rice’s passion for pageantry began when she won the title of Miss Teen California All American in 2000. After she placed as a Miss Teen USA All American Finalist she continued competing in pageants winning various titles throughout California. Rice attributes her modeling and entertainment career success from the experiences she had through pageantry which taught her how to nail an interview, public speaking skills and becoming a master at networking.

Rice has over two decades of experience in the entertainment industry appearing in more than 30 national commercials, feature films and co-starred in TV shows. She also has over 12 years experience hosting at award shows such as the ESPY’s and Grammy’s. She also hosted an internationally distributed travel show called Destination X. In addition, Tara is a professional model with 19 years of experience who has appeared in advertising campaigns worldwide. Her expertise as a runway model as helped her transition into producing fashion shows for top designers in Los Angeles and charitable fashion shows.

In Jan. 2016, Rice launched West Coast Model Management. Rice enjoys mentoring young models and talent who are breaking into the entertainment industry. Tara always finds time to dedicate to others as she feels it’s important to be a positive role model to inspire girls and women to become leaders in their communities and advocates for their platforms. She was a member of the Soroptimist International of Santa Clarita Valley for four years where she was the chair member of fundraisers that supported Human trafficking awareness and the Domestic violence center. In addition, Rice also volunteers and produces fundraisers for Relay for Life, Multiple Sclerosis Society, Susan G. Komen and Operation Blankets of Love. misswestcoastpageant.com

Shawn Walker

Shawn is first a passionate family man to his beautiful wife Rufina, and father to his incredible children. Together as a family they are passionate about creating environments for people to have fun, and enjoy the life that God has given them! They founded Event Management Solutions, Inc (EMS), which is the parent company of a large family of action sports facilities, Pro-Shops and attractions spread across Southern California. Recreational Facilities including The Paintball Park at Camp Pendleton, Miramar, and 29 Palms draw in Paintball, Airsoft & Kidsplat fans ages six and up from all over the world. The Paintball Park at Camp Pendleton is southern California’s favorite sports park for individuals, families, and groups to enjoy a day of Paintball Games, Airsoft and Kidsplat.

When his daughter Maggie came along, it unlocked a whole new world for Shawn that along with the army tank which filled his paintball parks, it now included a whole new world of frills and beauty! Which ultimately led them to pageants becoming their father-daughter outings together. Together as a family they are passionate about helping instill the boldness and confidence into young women, and their daughter Maggie was the 2017 title holder for Little Miss California United States. www.emsfun.com